


All Cats Know

by BluSkates



Series: Six Kinds of Love is a fantastic read [4]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: M/M, The past is a monster, mention of past slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2017-06-20
Packaged: 2018-11-16 13:09:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11253609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BluSkates/pseuds/BluSkates
Summary: A brief view of the world from Snowball the cat's point of view.  This is a one-shot off-shoot to the larger, multi-chapter piece by Frilly_Axolotl, "Six Kings of Love" in which Yuri P and Yuuri K had been enslaved people and are living (if not freed) safely with Viktor Nikiforov.  The story works through the process of recovery and is just very nice prose!





	All Cats Know

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Frilly_Axolotl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frilly_Axolotl/gifts).



Normally I don’t care about the comings and goings of the people in this house. For the most part I don’t really like them. I mean, I guess the one that sleeps in my room, Nice Abs, is tolerable… at best. But honestly, they are all such a strange collection of caprice and wrong angles that I can’t really find the words to adequately describe them. I tried, once, to converse with the dog about this. However I found myself locked into a diatribe on the de-unification of Europe and his worries about the devaluing of the EU against the Yen.

Obviously, I’m joking. All cats know that dogs can’t talk.

Today Nice Abs spent half the morning looking for his glasses. I had done a marvelous job hiding them under the very couch upon which I caught him making out with the Squeaky One. I’m not certain what’s going on between them but two days ago I caught a whiff of him on my roommate and since then I’ve become much more vigilant in my observation. No, don’t get me wrong I have no problem with Nice Abs spending all of his time with Squeaky One, I just enjoy torturing humans.

Earlier that morning I watched Silent pack up the car for a ride. He and Smiles Too Much were in a heated argument over something trivial. I had jumped up onto the window sill to get a better view.

“Are you certain he shouldn’t bring more?” Viktor handed the second black duffle bag to Otabek.

“He’s insistent that his grandfather kept all of his old clothing. I think he wants to wear them.” Otabek check the car one last time. He knew that it would be long and exhausting drive, he only prayed that it went easily with as little trouble as possible. Smuggling Yuri from St. Petersburg to Moscow without a collar would be difficult.

“You have the paperwork on you?” Viktor had turned to enter the house.

Otabek froze behind him. Viktor stopped walking and slowly turned back to face the Khazak.

“Please tell me you packed his paperwork.” Viktor leveled his gaze on Otabek’s falling countenance. Viktor sighed, “and you regard me as the careless one.”

“I didn’t think I would need it.” Otabek stalked back into the house with Viktor on his heels.

“What do you think would happen if you were stopped?”

I watched the two men arguing about their foolish papers pass me. The little blonde one rounded the corner eating from a bag of cookies. If that little fool thought he would fit into his old clothing he was going to be bitterly disappointed. He had grown at least two inches over the past month.

But there was something I liked about him. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I almost feel a respect for him. He can remain still well enough, but get too close and he strikes.

The little blonde smiled at me and slowly approached. I blinked slowly to let him know I was keeping him in check, but considering the possibility of a relationship in the future. Hopping off the sill and slunk past him, rubbing against his leg. He seemed pleased, and I was proud of the mess my white fur had made of the cuff of his jeans.

The kitchen door was open and in it I found Squeaky packing away food for the Little Blonde’s trip. He seemed to be happy. I can fix that.

Hopping up on the table I considered him with a glance. There was a nice tall glass of water on the table between us. The little Thai man was singing something softly, dancing as he moved sandwiches, pasta salads, and wrapped brownies into a cooler. He had finished packing away water into a plastic bag when he finally noticed me.

“Hi Snowball.” He reached hand out to pet under my chin. The fucking nerve. I darted my hand out to bat him away, then locked my eyes on his gaze. Lifting my paw slowly, I watched the Squeaky man arch his eyebrow. “Snowball…” Yes bitch? I dipped my paw into the water. The Squeaky man crept forward, sliding a foot to the edge of the table. One. Two. Fuck this glass! I batted my hand on the rim, knocking it over, the contents spilling across the table, flooding his cookies. He squealed in dismay as he picked up his precious phone, shaking it free of the excess water. His eyes went wide as the glass rolled to the edge and slipped off, crashing to the floor and shattering across the linoleum.

“Snowball! Bad kitty!” He squeaked a whine, shrill and high pitched.

“Snowball?” Nice abs entered the room and I took that as my cue to leave. They would undoubted return to licking each other’s faces.

“Chris, you’re damned cat…” He started whining but I didn’t need to turn around to hear the familiar sounds he makes as Nice Abs runs his hands under the smaller man’s shirt. The false protests as muffled quickly by two mouths meeting quickly. I do admire Nice Abs, his passion is something out of a Bronte novel. Just hoping it ends better, and with less drama.

I walked out of the kitchen just in time to avoid the disgusting display of love. The toned man wrapped the squeaky man into his arms and began kissing down his neck. I could hear the whining turn into soft moans as the two thought they were sharing a stolen moment.

The hallway was abandoned so I followed a conversation upstairs. The silver haired man was talking to the one that never smiles. The dark man never noticed me, or if he did he paid about as much attention to me as I’d like. I like him most of all. We have a polite distance.

“Okay, take these.” Viktor handed over a small lamented set of cards, “this is Yuuri’s identification and yours as… as his…”

“Owner, Viktor.” Otabek took the cards and placed them into his wallet. “Should Yuuri carry anything?”

“Like what? A ‘please return me to’ bracelet?” Viktor went to laugh but then recalled that those were becoming terribly fashionable pieces of jewelry and he felt the bile rise up in his throat.

“Deep breath.” Otabek placed a steadying hand on his bicep. “You have already thrown up three times this morning.”

Viktor seemed to shrink in on himself. He face paled more than what was possible, his hair clung to his scalp. “How do I do it?”

“Tomorrow start talking to him about what to expect at the doctor’s and the ride into the city. Talk about the laws, try to keep your voice calm and don’t go into details.” Otabek spoke slowly as he guided the taller man to sit on the edge of his bed. “And let him put it on himself.”

Viktor looked at the disgusting object seated next to him. A leather collar. As simple a model as possible, the thinnest, lightest, loosest one he could find on the internet. It still scared the hell out of him. The thought of putting Yuuri through that…

“I have to leave.” Otabek glanced at his watch.

The silver haired man sniffled a little and followed the darker man down stairs and out to the waiting car. I watched from the top of the stairs. The little blonde was hugging another person, telling him they would be okay. As he turned I saw it was the ghost. I froze.

The blonde and dark man left. This left the silver haired man standing in the hallway with the ghost. He smiled at him, it wasn’t returned, but I could see the ghost trying to climb towards him. The dog clung to the ghost’s side these days, afraid to leave him alone. Undoubtedly just as terrified as I am that one day soon he would disappear into the walls.

All cats know that sometimes people can disappear.

_The one with nice abs was like this a little when he first came. I don’t know the early days, the silver one brought me home for him. The chiseled man would spend entire days in bed letting tears fall from his eyes. It was unsettling. The silver man dropped him off with the sobbing mess on the bed._

_“Chris, I thought having something to take care of would be helpful.” Viktor reached out to touch the blonde hair, “It’s been a difficult week, I know. But I was thinking that maybe this cat could help?”_

_Viktor ran a hand through the blonde’s dry coarse hair. He hadn’t a clue what to do. Matiev, a low level worker for his father had been caught skimming intake money, Viktor caught wise to it and was going to turn him over when Chris caught his eye. Matiev never struck Viktor as sadistic, perhaps childish and greedy, and a total fuck up, but there was nothing truly malicious about him. Or at least, that’s what Viktor thought until he met his partner, Isaac. Isaac was a piece of human garbage. They had come to a party at Viktor’s father’s penthouse in the city and brought their slave with them. Many of the guests had done this, and for the most part it seemed tolerable. Some of the slaves even had the liberty to mingle amongst themselves and speak freely. Chris walked about, scantily clad, and cuffed. He trailed around after Isaac, kneeling when they came to stop._

_Viktor had to avert his eyes, as did most of the guests, and his father had made certain that they knew this disgusting display was not appreciated. They left soon after, but not before Viktor had noticed the scars on the man’s back. Not even Yakov got upset when Viktor vomited the second time that night._

_Two weeks later Chris was living in Viktor’s home. Well, living was a subjective term when speaking of a person who had suffered the brutal indignity of being enslaved. After the initial shock of being semi-freed wore off Chris fell into a deep depression. Viktor had tried to reunite him with his family only to find that Chris had none. Viktor tried to engage Chris in his aspirations, only to find that all of his paths were now closed because of his status as an enslaved person. Chris was stuck in the house, stuck in his life, and it seemed, stuck in his mind._

_Snowball reflected on the blonde man as the silver haired man left the room. He was still. That was something that Snowball always admired. The ability to be quiet and still was not possessed by many people, and this man seemed to be able to do this, however he was also deep in sorrow._

_With a slow swish of a very full and fluffy tail Snowball curled herself up into the chest of this man. It was shocking to find that instead of something soft and yielding he had curled into a toned, chiseled chest. This man had obviously spent time defining his chest, defining his abs. Now he would be free to define himself. Snowball wanted to help him do this._

_As Snowball started to nod off into a nap she felt a hand stroke down her spine to the tail._

In the days and weeks that followed I ventured further into the home, followed by the blonde man, whose own hair began to fill in and grow soft. I would see him sneak to the library, take books, hide them in his own room. Then one day, he stopped sneaking. He read the books in the library, or the family room. He returned them, understanding that he had the right to do this. I watched him begin to run again, and work out in the basement.

The only change that upset me was our sleeping arrangements. At first in a nicely furnished room on the second floor. But then nice abs decided to move up to the attic, and I followed. I can’t say I really did mind that much, the dog never came there. And there was plenty of sunlight to sleep in.

One day the nice abs stopped being a ghost, he laughed and teased with the silver hair man. And when the squeaky man moved in I saw that nice abs cared for the boy, and that this love would grow into something deeper as they both grew. Sleeping arrangements would undoubtedly change again.

All cats know what love looks like.

 

The ghost stood in the hallway watching as the blonde’s car drove disappeared down the tree lined lane. I watched him walk around in strange, stuttered movements. He was clearly looking to see what he should do, not knowing, and without instructions he was at a loss how to create a mission for himself.

It was different with this ghost. Nice abs could eventually pick himself up. He had found purpose in his books, and in the squeaky boy. This one, the raven haired ghost, looked like he was ready to take the step out. Cats can live in both worlds, quite happily. We can see the past, present and future, along with the “is” and the “might be”. Humans can’t, and dogs are morons. But this one, my raven haired ghost, can’t see how closely it walks upon him. As he moves to walk into the library the past creeps behind his steps, big, ugly, and dark. It clouds over his small form, pushing down on him. I don’t dare intercede. This is a shadow that drags and claws at him. And for the first time ever I am a cat that is afraid. And all cats know we don’t feel fear.

“Yuuri?” Viktor calls from behind.

Yuuri stops moving and turns to face the taller man. He can’t bring his eyes to meet those beautiful ocean blue orbs.

“He’ll be okay, Otabek is very trustworthy.” Viktor took a small step forward and felt elated when Yuuri didn’t retreat a step back.

“Your eye exam is in three days. It will be nice to see properly.”

Yuuri nodded and shuffled.

“Uhm, I was thinking since we would be in the city we could pick up some things you might need or like. Maybe some better clothes. I didn’t know what to get so I just bought what I like.” Viktor ran a hand through his hair, “I’m certain you’d love to get rid of the stuff I got.”

“No.” Yuuri was looking up, his voice had caught him by surprise. “I like these. I like what you got. It’s soft.” He ran a hand over the hem of the shirt.

From where I stood at the top of the stairs I saw the shade pull back slightly, the long tendrils of fingers released on the boy. There was a weakness to this shadow, and the silver haired man in his own bumbling way could help the ghost free himself.

“I’m glad, I did mean to talk with you…”

“Yuuri! Come game with me!” Phichit ran past Victor, grabbing Yuuri’s hand and dragging him into the family room. I watched as Phichit ran right through the shade, disturbing it as one would a cloud of flour. It didn’t affect him, but I could see the ghost jump from the momentary release of the past. It was like his nightmares had left, but they would come back. And that’s why I kept my distance.

All cats know that nightmares come back.

The silver haired man sighed and returned to his bedroom. I stood at the door watching him. He took his laptop and began to look at the page I had seen him stare at several times. It was a picture of the ghost, happier, chubbier. Above it read “Missing” and provided contact information for his family.

Viktor drummed his fingers over the keyboard and eventually snapped the laptop shut.

All cats know that sometimes people can reappear.

**Author's Note:**

> Another gift for Frilly_Axolotl who is all things wonderful! Go and read the work "Six Kinds of Love" as you will fall in love with it right away.


End file.
